


Come On Skinny Love, Just Last The Year

by senioritastyles



Series: 25 Days of Ficmas [15]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, American Football, Boys Kissing, Cashton, Fluff, Football, Kissing, M/M, Single Parent Ashton, football coach calum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 19:23:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8857756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/senioritastyles/pseuds/senioritastyles
Summary: "Daddy!" Evan calls, eyes wide as he looks just past Ashton.Ashton barely has time to turn around before his cart crashes into someone else's, his distracted walking leading him right into the collision. He looks up to apologize as Evan quietly giggles next to him, somewhat hiding behind Ashton's legs, and Ashton is met with warm dark brown eyes and golden skin and a smiling stranger who doesn't seem even remotely miffed at Ashton. The stranger is beautiful really, it's the only way Ashton can think to describe him as he fumbles trying to find his voice. Or: Ashton is a single dad and he meets Calum by chance.





	

**Author's Note:**

> (title is from Skinny Love by Bon Iver)  
> It has nothing to do with the plot, I just happened to be listening to the song when I posted this :)

"Evan, we are not buying another giant bag of Reese's Pieces. We haven't even finished the last one you made me buy." Ashton decides, watching his five year old son pout profusely but put the bag back on the shelf anyway.

Ashton shakes his head as they proceed down the snack and candy aisle in their local grocery store, checking his list and grabbing the boxes of goldfish crackers and regular Ritz crackers to pack in Evan's lunches for preschool. They need bread next, so Ashton leads them down a few more aisles until he finds it and tosses two loaves of white bread into his cart, Evan dutifully holding onto the side of the cart just like Ashton always tells him to. While he checks his list again, Ashton is struck not for the first time by how similar he and Evan look. Evan sports the same honey brown curly hair, the same green eyes, the same smile as Ashton, but he's got an almost elf-like nose, upturned just the slightest bit and cute as button just like his mother's. Also not for the first time, Ashton's struck with the reminder that Evan's mom wanted nothing to do with either of them, having been only seventeen when Evan was born. She left the baby with Ashton and disappeared, declaring that she was done with the both of them and relinquishing full custody to Ashton without so much as a single court date.

Looking at Evan now, Ashton thinks he's done a pretty good job. Evan is smart, funny, caring, and energetic, a healthy young man according to his last yearly check up with his doctor, and Ashton's proud of how well he managed to adapt to raising a child while going to school and having a job. He knows what it's like to grow up with only one parent in your life and he was determined to be as strong and hardworking as his own mother always was and still is. Bottom line is that Evan is happy, he's athletic and he wants join the township footballprogram next month, and that makes Ashton happy.

"Daddy!" Evan calls, eyes wide as he looks just past Ashton.

Ashton barely has time to turn around before his cart crashes into someone else's, his distracted walking leading him right into the collision. He looks up to apologize as Evan quietly giggles next to him, somewhat hiding behind Ashton's legs, and Ashton is met with warm dark brown eyes and golden skin and a smiling stranger who doesn't seem even remotely miffed at Ashton. The stranger is beautiful really, it's the only way Ashton can think to describe him as he fumbles trying to find his voice.

"Uh...sorry about that." He finally manages, clearing his throat and smiling sheepishly at the man.

He nods, accepting Ashton's apology. "It's okay, no harm done. Although I think your bread may have suffered a bit."

Ashton furrows his brow in confusion and looks down, groaning when he notices his loaves of bread smashed down underneath the gallon jug of milk where it fell over. "Aw man."

The stranger laughs, stepping to the side and pulling out two more bags of the same sliced bread and swapping them out of Ashton's cart with the ruined ones. "There we go."

"Thanks." Ashton laughs, smiling as a sort of awkward silence falls over them, a feeling like neither of them wants to walk away just yet but they don't know what else they could really say at this point.

Luckily, Evan saves the day. "Woah, cool tattoos!" He shrieks, scurrying out from behind Ashton and standing in front of the man, pulling at his arm and admiring the plethora of ink spread out over it.

"Thanks little man." The stranger says, clearly not bothered with being treated like a shiny new toy as he looks back up at Ashton with a smile. "I'm Calum, by the way."

"Ashton, and this is Evan, my son." Ashton smiles back, watching Evan poke at the tattoo on Calum's outer bicep. "He uhm, he's always been interested in tattoos."

Calum's smile brightens considerably. "Yeah? You gonna get any tattoos when you're older?"

"I want a million!" Evan exclaims, eyes alight with excitement as he examines the black ink on Calum's knuckles.

"That's more than I have for sure." Calum chuckles, eyes comedically wide like he actually believes Evan would get a million tattoos.

Evan nods and finally releases Calum's arm from his grip, stepping backwards toward Ashton again and grabbing onto his father's hand. Ashton's hand fits all the way around Evan's, swallowing it completely and it makes Evan giggle and knock his forehead into Ashton's hip. Calum watches their interaction with a small smile playing on his lips, pushing his cart to the side to get out of the way of an elderly couple coming down the aisle.

"Uhm, we should get going, but it was really nice to meet you." Ashton says, suddenly quieter than before.

Calum nods, and he looks a little reluctant to walk away. "It was nice meeting you both."

They go their separate ways and Evan waves to Calum with the hand that isn't clutched in Ashton's, his smile wide as he babbles the whole rest of the trip about how cool Calum's tattoos were.

\-----------------------------------------------------

The end of September gets busy for Ashton, immensely so, with his school work picking back up and his job giving him more hours and Evan starting preschool and pee-wee football. It's times like these where he absolutely hates being a single dad, where he can't stand how difficult it is to make a living for himself, but when he looks at his son each morning he's reminded why he does it. If he didn't work as hard as he did and do as much as he does, Evan's life wouldn't be happy and full like it is. But today, Ashton's feeling the stress and the exhaustion in incredible levels, having a ten page paper due at midnight after an eight hour shift and having to bring Evan to his first football practice. Luckily he started his paper early and he's only got three more pages to write plus the bibliography and he can do that in no time, but he's really feeling the exhaustion set in as he packs Evan into the car at 5: "I'm so excited!" Evan chirps from his car seat, kicking his feet against it to emphasize his point.  
hotspot

Evan giggles as Ashton pulls out of the parking lot of their apartment complex, driving towards the community sports complex where Evan's practice is being held. Ashton's heard a lot of good things about the township football program and he was excited when Evan wanted to try it, his son having heard of it from one of his friends at school who was signed up. Ashton pulls into the lot of the sports fields and hops out, helping Evan out of his car seat first before grabbing his school stuff from the front seat and locking the car, walking over to the field where there are other kids and parents gathered around theend zone closest to the parking lot. He holds Evan's hand when the boy sticks it up for him and he guides his son toward the field, checking him over to make sure he's got on his cleats and the proper clothing and a full water bottle in hand. The township gives them shoulder pads and team helmets to use so Ashton didn't have to worry about any of that, and he's glad to see that he managed to get Evan properly ready without even really being focused on it.

"Wyatt!" Evan yells, letting go of Ashton's hand and running into the loose crowd of people toward a small boy with dirty blonde hair and green eyes.

Ashton watches him carefully, recognizing the name Wyatt as Evan's friend who told him about the pee-wee football league. The two boys begin to chatter excitedly as Ashton gets a little closer and squats down, momentarily interrupting their conversation. "Stay with Wyatt, okay bud? I'll be right over there on those benches the whole time."

Evan nods and Ashton ruffles his hair before standing back up and heading for the benches on the side of the field, put there for the fans to sit on during games. He sits on the bottom bench and spreads his stuff out, turning on his hotspot and his laptop so he can get started. He rereads the last paragraph he wrote, refreshing himself on where he left off before picking it up and getting back into the flow, wanting to finish this before the end of Evan's practice so he can spend the remainder of the evening with his son. He's typing fast, working hard and completely in the zone when a familiar voice calls his name.

"Ashton?"

Ashton looks up and sees Calum standing there on the grass in front of the benches, an equipment bag slung over his shoulder. "Calum?"

"Hi....what are you doing here?" Calum asks, his voice bright and smooth as he sets the heavy bag down on the ground.

Ashton moves his laptop to the side. "Evan is, uhm, he's playing football in the pee-wee league."

"Really? I'm the coach for that team!" Calum admits, smiling warmly as he turns and scans the gathering of players to try to find Evan.

Ashton spots him before Calum does, still standing with Wyatt and now a few other boys. "Evan!" He calls, waving his son over when he turns to look.

Evan comes trotting over, stopping a few feet short when he sees Calum standing there. "Calum!"

"Hey kid, how are you?" Calum smiles, kneeling down on one knee to get on Evan's level.

"I'm good. What're you doing here?" Evan wonders, tilting his head to the side.

Calum chuckles. "I'm the football coach, bud."

Evan's face lights up. "Really?!" When Calum nods Evan looks over at Ashton excitedly and Ashton returns the look. "Awesome!"

Evan runs back to his friends, talking excitedly and mouth going a mile a minute. Ashton chuckles and shakes his head as Calum turns back to face him, an odd look on his face that Ashton can't quite read. He looks like he wants to say something, mouth opening and closing slowly as he stares at Ashton's face illuminated by his laptop screen.

"Uhm....Ashton?" He starts, stepping a little closer as Ashton quirks his eyebrow and waits. "Would, uh....would you like to maybe go.....on a date with me, sometime?"

Ashton is entirely caught off guard by the question, mouth hanging open and eyes wide as he blinks dumbly at Calum, the silence awkward and a little tense. "A date?"

"Uh....shit, I didn't even ask if you were single. My god, you have a son I just....I assumed because I didn't see his mom with you and you're just really cute and you're nice and I'm sorry." Calum babbles, shaking his head and there's a deep crease between his eyebrows that Ashton doesn't like seeing on such a gorgeous face.

"No, Calum, I'm....I'm single. Evan's mom, she uh, she left after he was born. She didn't want anything to do with him...or me." Ashton explains, voice quiet and tight.

Calum's face relaxes. "Oh, I'm sorry. That's awful."

Ashton nods but he's smiling anyway. "It's alright, doesn't really matter now." He shrugs and Calum nods, going silent until Ashton perks up a little bit. "But uhm," He starts, blushing a deep pink as he bites his lip when Calum looks at him properly, "I would love to go on a date with you."

Calum looks shocked, to say the least, but in a happy sort of way. "Wha—really?"

Ashton laughs a little bit and nods. "Yes, really."

Calum laughs incredulously, about to say something else when his watch beeps and he checks it, realizing it's 6 pm and time to start practice. "Uhm, okay, don't leave right away after practice." He requests, grabbing the equipment bag and walking backwards away from Ashton.

"I won't." Ashton chuckles, smiling as he gets back to work on his paper.

\---------------------------------------------

An hour and a half goes by like lightning but Ashton manages to get his paper fully finished, works cited included, and he submits it just as Evan comes racing over, a little sweaty and red cheeked but he looks happy.

"How'd it go, bud?" Ashton asks, ruffling Evan's damp curls before shutting his laptop down and putting it to the side.

"Daddy, it was so much fun!" Evan exclaims, bouncing on his feet as Ashton starts helping him pull off all the pads.

"I'm glad, bud." Ashton smiles, setting the pads on the ground by his feet and pulling Evan closer by his shoulders, hugging him tightly and kissing his head.

"I _love_ football, Dad." Evan decides, smiling brightly and resting his weight back on Ashton's thigh from his position between his father's legs.

"Now that's what I like to hear, Ev-man." Calum calls from just a few feet away, putting the last of the practice equipment in the bag. Evan grins at his coach as Calum comes closer and pats him on the shoulder. "You were awesome out there, little dude."

"Thanks!" Evan chirps, leaning his head against Ashton's chest.

Calum looks at Ashton with a crooked smile. "He's got a lot of talent already. He's gonna be incredible if he keeps playing through the years."

Ashton beams proudly, holding Evan a little tighter and looking down at his son's smiling face. "You hear that, bud? You could be a professional someday, like the guys we watch on TV every Sunday."

Evan gasps and his face lights up even more with a smile just like Ashton's, one that could blind the whole world. "I could?" Ashton and Calum nod at him and he gets even more excited. "Daddy, can we go see a game for real and not just on the TV?"

Ashton's heart sinks a little bit because Evan looks so hopeful and excited but they can't afford that. Seats are expensive and then there's food and drinks and Ashton knows Evan will want a souvenir and he just knows that he wouldn't be able to pay for it all. He's about to say no and totally disappoint his son when Calum, clearly sensing Ashton's distress, jumps in.

"Hey, how about we all go together?" Calum suggests, giving Ashton a look that's easy to read—Calum wants that to be their 'date'.

Ashton's not so sure about that, no matter how excited Evan is looking right now. "Oh, Calum, I don't know. Games can get expensive fast, I don't want you spending all that money on us." He argues, trying to give Calum a stern look but instead appearing a little frazzled.

Calum shakes his head, actually managing to look stern while smiling pleasantly all the same. "I asked you on the date remember? That means I pay, and I would love to take you both to a game. I happen to know that the Patriots are playing the Jets next Sunday, and the Patriots happen to be my favorite team."

Ashton wants to argue again but Evan interrupts him loudly. "Can we go Daddy? Please, please, please, please, _please_?!"

Calum chuckles and now they're both looking at Ashton with pleading expressions and Ashton feels caught, staring at their adorable faces and he can't help but think that if things work out between him and Calum—because he always has to consider the future now with Evan around—he'll never be able to say no to anything they want. Ashton sighs and rubs at Evan's hair again as the boy juts his bottom lip out sadly.

"Alright, alright, fine. We can go." He decides begrudgingly, wincing when Evan yells his excitement right in his father's ear, Calum looking equally elated. "But I buy the food."

Calum shakes his head with a smile. "Whatever you say, boss." And his tone is almost condescending, like he won't let it happen whether Ashton wants it to or not.

Ashton rolls his eyes and reaches over, ripping off a blank corner of paper and pulling out a pen, scribbling down his number before standing up and handing it to Calum. "Just uhm, text me with the details, okay?"

Calum takes the paper and nods, folding it and carefully putting it in his sweatpants pocket. "I will. See ya later, Ev-man."

"Bye Calum!" Evan calls, waving happily as the man walks off toward the parking lot.

Ashton turns and gathers his stuff, cradling it all in one arm and looking down at Evan. "You ready to go, bud?" When Evan nods, Ashton points at the shoulder pads still sitting on the ground. "Then grab those and let's get outta here so we can eat some dinner."

Evan picks up the pads and practically skips to the car, letting Ashton buckle him in his car seat, not stopping for a second as he goes on and on about how excited he is to see a real football game.

\------------------------------------------------

Ashton's glad that they're going to a semi early game, one that starts at 4:30 instead of later in the evening when Evan has school the next day and Ashton has work and an early class as well. Calum came and picked them up at 3 and they've been driving towards the Gillette stadium for half an hour, stuck in a bit of traffic but nothing too major, mostly just centered around the various parking lots. Calum manages to find a lot with some open spots, turning in and paying the parking fee when the man in the orange vest comes to the window. They're directed to the right where there are spots scattered here and there, Calum pulling into the closest one and parking the car. He shuts the car off and looks at Ashton with a warm smile, secretly happy that it's a chillier day today so he has an excuse to keep Ashton close.

"You guys ready?" Calum asks, turning back to look at Evan wiggling excitedly in his car seat, bundled up in warm sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt underneath his Iron Man hoodie, a black beanie covering his mop of curly hair and little black gloves over his hands.

Evan nods and starts to unbuckle himself, looking wistfully out the window towards the stadium. Ashton snorts a small laugh and gets out, opening the back door and helping Evan get himself out of his seat and out of the car. Calum gets out and joins them, locking his car and taking Evan's small hand on his left side and Ashton's much bigger hand on his right. Ashton smiles and laces their fingers together, letting Calum lead the way through the parking lot and into the stadium. Calum pulls three printed tickets from the pocket of his joggers, passing two to Ashton and keeping one for himself as they get in line to have their tickets scanned.

Ashton's eyes blow wide when he looks at the seat section. "Calum, are you kidding me? How did you even get seats in section 215 on such short notice?" He wonders, knowing that it's a section just above where the Patriots come out onto the field, close enough to the action that they won't have to rely on the big screen to see—he's cringing just thinking about how much they cost.

"Resale." Calum says simply, shrugging with a smirk and turning around to move up in the short line.

Ashton huffs and moves up too, keeping Evan close by his side as the boy looks around and tries to take everything in. It's doesn't take long for them to have their tickets scanned in, being ushered along with the crowd of people climbing the steps into the stadium. Calum leads them around expertly, showing them to the entrance to their section in no time. Just as Ashton is about to take the set of stairs to get to their seats, Evan shrieks and tugs on Ashton's hand, pointing him in the direction of a store just across the way, full of Patriots jerseys of all colors.

"Daddy, can we get shirts? Pretty please?" Evan asks, hugging around Ashton's right leg and looking up at him with those big green eyes.

Ashton knows those jerseys cost an arm and a leg and he doesn't want to say no because it's Evan's first game ever and he wants it to be an amazing time, but it's either the jersey or the water bill that's due next week, a decision he didn't think he'd have to make and it makes him wish things were different.

"Evan....." He starts, but he's immediately cut off by Calum.

"Sure we can, Ev-man." Calum decides, taking Evan's hand and leading him to the store.

Ashton feels rooted to the spot as he watches them walk away, entirely dumbfounded and unable to fully process what he's seeing. His feet finally decide to move, carrying him through the throng of people standing between him and his son, who is pulling a small white jersey from one of the racks and looking at it with bright eyes. He gets into the store and makes a beeline for Calum, who is standing just a few feet behind Evan looking at the adult sized jerseys in blue.

"Calum, you don't seriously think I'm going to let you pay for him to get a shirt, do you?" Ashton whisper yells, looking over his shoulder to make sure Evan isn’t paying attention to them.

Calum puts the jersey he was holding back on the rack and looks at Ashton with a soft expression. "Yes, Ashton I do think that." When Ashton goes to argue, Calum shushes him. "I don't mind at all and besides, I can see that you want to give him these things but I also know how hard it can be to raise a kid all on your own. My sister's doing it right now with her daughter and she struggles from time to time but my parents and I are always there to help her out. I can tell that you have very little if any help and that you work hard to give him what he needs and to keep him happy, but you deserve to be happy too."

Ashton sighs and his head is telling him to refuse, to tell Calum no, but his heart tells him to look at the smile on Evan's face and the pleading expression on Calum's, and it's that sight that makes his decision for him. "Okay, okay....stop with the mushy feelings stuff before I cry or something."

Calum chuckles breathily and takes a chance, leaning in to quickly kiss Ashton's pink cheek. Ashton feels his skin tingle and he has the urge to touch it to make sure he actually felt what he thinks he did, but Calum's smile tells him all he needs to know.

"Now pick yourself a jersey too, gorgeous, you're not gonna be the only one without one." Calum instructs, pushing Ashton towards the adult shirts with a smile.

Ashton huffs but does as he's told, searching through the jerseys to find one that catches his eye. He can hear Calum and Evan talking behind him about the different players to choose from as he scans the section of red shirts that he knows are old school colors, but red has always been his favorite color. He finds one in his size and he pulls it out, happy when he recognizes the name and number—Edelman, #11. It's the perfect jersey and he turns around with it in hand, finding an excited Evan holding a white jersey that has #87 on it and reads 'Gronkowski' on the back. Calum smiles and goes over to pick his own shirt back up, a blue #12 Brady jersey, and he brings all three to the register and waits to be rung up.

Evan turns to his father with a cheery smile, tugging on his shirt to make sure he's got Ashton's attention before speaking in a hushed voice. "I love Calum, he's really cool."

"He is really cool, isn't he bud?" Ashton smiles, leaning down to lift Evan up into his arms as the boy nods.

Ashton feels his heart swell at how happy Evan looks just in general, a brighter light in his eyes, and he has Calum to thank for it. He watches Calum pay for the shirts and come back over to them, guiding them out of the store and into the main area, finding a relatively empty spot to stand so they can put their shirts on. Ashton helps Evan into his shirt, putting it on over his hoodie before sliding his own jersey over his black long sleeve fleece shirt. Calum gets his on as well, smiling happily and leading them down to their seats.

"Kick off should be soon." Calum says, voice just a little louder than usual in all the noise of the packed stadium. "And you know," He whispers, leaning in closer so Evan won't hear him, "you look really hot in red.

Ashton blushes and giggles quietly as Evan just hops around excitedly, clearly impatient to see his first football game, absolutely bubbling over with happiness as he stares at the field and all the fans with wide eyes. Calum and Ashton watch him with grins on their faces, seeing the enthusiasm as the crowd goes nuts when kick off happens.

\--------------------------------------------------

The last few minutes of the game are intense and Ashton can feel it in the air. Everyone, including a tired looking Evan, is on the edge of their seats watching the Patriots offensive line get ready to run the ball. It's so different from watching the TV on their couch back in the apartment, the excitement so much louder and palpable in the noise of the crowd. Evan's been having the time of his life, listening with rapt attention as Calum explained the rules and plays and positions more in depth than he could ever do at pee-wee practice. Evan seemed to retain the information pretty well, calling things out as they happened during the game and making Calum and Ashton smile proudly. Right now he's bundled between them, latched onto Ashton's hip in the chilly air, the wind having picked up during the third quarter, making it feel colder than it originally was supposed to be. Calum's on his other side, holding Ashton in close around his ribs and rubbing Evan's arm idly as they watch the last play of the game. The entire crowd is on it's feet, yelling and cheering as the Patriots throw the ball and the wide receiver catches it in the end zone.

"YES!" Evan and Calum scream at the same time, high fiving each other as the game ends.

Ashton feels incredibly happy here with these two boys, watching them have fun and get along and he of course can't forget that Evan said he loved Calum earlier, a fact that he can never overlook when it comes to dating anyone. Calum fits every bill in Ashton's book and apparently Evan's too, and it's this thought plus the excitement in the air that has Ashton turning to the side and pressing his cold lips to Calum's. Calum hums in surprise but he kisses Ashton back easily, feeling just a teasing taste of Ashton's tongue on his own before they pull apart and Calum looks at Ashton with eyes that shine like the stadium lights. Ashton is looking at Calum the same way as the excitement starts to die down and people start to file out of their seats, Evan yawning tiredly between them, resting his head on Ashton's hip with his eyes closed.

"Come on bud, let's get you home." Ashton chuckles, going to pick Evan up to carry him out but Calum beats him to it, lifting the boy into his arms and helping him wrap his legs around Calum's waist as they join the herd of people on the stairs.

Ashton's cheeks are rosy and his nose is red from the chill, Evan and Calum looking much the same as they finally get out of the stadium and head for the parking lot, finding their car in no time. Calum carefully sits Evan into his car seat and straps him in, helping Ashton into the front seat as well before heading around and getting in the driver's side, wasting no time in starting up the car and turning on the heat to warm them up and defrost the slightly frozen windows. He backs out of the spot and they get out of the parking lot in record time, heading for home in the warmed up car.

Calum grabs Ashton's hand across the center console, checking the rearview mirror to see that Evan is fast asleep in the back. "Ashton?"

"Yeah?"

Calum brings Ashton's hand up and kisses his palm as the stoplight turns green. "I'm really glad you literally crashed into my life."

Ashton's heart doubles in size under the yellow light of the street lamps as he looks across the car at Calum's hand holding his own tightly, and although he doesn't say it, he's glad too, glad that his little family has a new addition.

**Author's Note:**

> WELCOME TO DAY 15 OF FICMAS!!!!!!!! Today I bring you yet another Cashton football AU, except this one is very different to the first one I posted in Ficmas. I just really liked the idea of Ashton being a single dad and then of course I'm always thinking of my babylove Lynn and she loves football with a passion so I had to do this, I just had to. As with the other football fic, all of the knowledge about the Patriots and football itself comes from Lynn's smartypants self so shout out to her for putting up with my annoying and probably dumbass questions! I hope you all enjoy this, please leave comments and feedback below, and I love you<3  
> P.S. can you believe there's only 10 days until Christmas like WTF?!!?!
> 
>  
> 
> tumblr: senioritastyles & babyhemhem  
> twitter: xtraceex  
> instagram: traceethekid  
> snapchat: youngtray


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